Can handling apparatus



Sept. 17, 1940. N. J. PETERS CAN HANDLING APPARATUS 2 SheetS-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 20, 1959 INVENTOR- ATTORNEYS.

Sept. 17, 1940. N. J. PETERS CAN HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 20, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 17, 1940 UNITED STATES CAN HANDLING APPARATUS Norman J. Peters, Fond du Lac, Wis., assignor to Damrow Brothers Company, Fond du Lac, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application February 20, 1939, Serial No. 257,394

Claims.

The invention relates to can washing apparatus and more particularly to milk can washing apparatus and to that part of the apparatus for moving the washed can from the machine into a 5 position to receive its cover.

The general object of the invention is to improve upon the so-called turning mechanism of the can washing machine whereby the can after being turned from an inverted to an upright position is moved to a position to receive a cover and is then pushed out .of the machine and especially to improve on the can turning mechanism including an oscillatory lay down cradle and an oscillating uprighting cradle which receives the can from the lay down cradle and deposits it in upright position upon a support, in that means are provided which act on the, can as it is uprighted for insuring the proper positioning of the can to receive its cover. More particularly, the invention is designed to provide a can placer operating in conjunction with the uprighting cradle to insure the proper positioning of the can on the delivery table, the device acting to handle a wide variety of can sizes and insuring their proper 25 placement.

Ihe invention further consists in the several features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view of a device embodying the invention, showing the parts in an intermediate operating position, parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2: is a view of a portion of the mechanism showing the can in uprighted position, parts being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detailed plan View of the delivery support, parts being broken away.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 desighates the framework of the machine and 6 that part of the machine along which the cans in inverted position are given an intermittent forward movement through the usual pawls (not shown) connected to a common operating memher which includes the upright 8 herein shown as moved by means of an oscillatory lever 9 mounted on a shaft l9 and oscillated through its slotted connection H with a crank l2 whose shaft I3 is r rotated by a suitable connection (not shown) with the driving motor of the machine, said lever being connected by an adjustable link 54 with said upright 8. With this construction the cans are intermittently pushed forward through the 55,: washer, and finally the washed and dried can is pushed onto a lay-down cradle l6 then in an upright position to receive it. Thereafter, the cradle It is moved to its lower position shown in Fig. 1 while the uprighting cradle IT is moving down from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 1, it being noted that the cradle It moves down to meet the previously lowered cradle ll. Thereafter, the cradle l5 remains stationary while the cradle ll raises the can to an upright position upon a delivery station or support It from which the uprighted can is pushed off onto a delivery conveyor by mechanism associated with the cradle ll. Also as the can moves to upright position upon the support it, it is given a push along this support to a cover 15 placement position by a can placer member [9 associated with thecradle H.

As herein shown the cradle It embodies a skeleton frame mounted for oscillation at its lower end about its supporting shaft 20 journalled in bear- 20 ings 2i on the supporting frame, said skeleton frame including a base plate 22 with which the head of the can C engages and spaced side bars 23 extending at right angles thereto and against which the can rests. and side bars M to prevent 25 undue lateral movement of the can. The shaft 20 carries a crank 25 which is connected to one end of a connecting rod 26 whose other end is provided with a slot 21 in which the pin 28 on the free end of the crank [2 works, said slot having a stop portion 29 engageable by said pin to move said rod 26 toward the left while said crank I2 is swinging upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1, this movement acting to raise the cradle It to a can-receiving position, the remaining 36 movement of said crank l2 operating to permit a lowering of said cradle it to the transferring position shown in Fig. 1 and then a dwell through the lost motion afforded between the slot 2'! and said pin while said cradle i l is being moved to an upright position.

The uprighting cradle ll is formed of spaced bars 30 working in planes outside of the bars 23 and carried by an oscillatory shaft 3|, so located with reference to the support l8 that as the can moves from its lay-down position shown in Fig. 1, its forward end engages a roller 32 at the front end of the support and turns. and slides thereon to the upright position shown in Fig. 2. The movement of this cradle is effected through a crank arm 33 on the shaft 3| connected by a link M with a crank arm 35 on the shaft I3.

The support it has guides H3 at its opposite sides in which slides 36 are mounted, said slides being operatively connected by the links 31 with 1 the covers.

the bars 3!], so that as the cradle I! is moved from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2, the slides are advanced toward the left, and then as the cradle returns to its. lowered position, the slides return to the right.

Each slide has a feed pawl 38 pivotally mounted thereon and normally urged by a spring 39 to a stop position at right angles to its slide. These pawls swing out on the return stroke of the slides and pass by the uprighted can, but on their forward stroke they push this can forwardly off the support 18 onto a delivery conveyor, not shown.

Machines of the character above described are frequently equipped with cover-replacing mechanism whereby a cover is deposited in the mouth of the uprighted can on the support l8 before the can is moved on the delivery conveyor, the cover being carried to the mouth of the can in some way from a position above the mouth of the can either by a gravity or positive feed. One form of cover replacement mechanism may be that of my United States Letters Patent No. 2,171,763, dated September 5, 1939, but as such cover replacement mechanism has a separate status in this art, no details thereof have been here shown, but as the principle on which these mechanisms operate depends upon the location of the can in a definite position, the problem of the placement of the can in a cover-receiving position becomes important and especially where the machine is handling both large and small cans.

In order to insure the proper placement of the cans on the support la, the can placer member l9, associated with the cradle H, has been provided. g

The can placer member 59 is in the form of a yoke member having a transverse portion 40 and legs or arms ii which are pivotally mounted intermediate their ends at A2 on bracket members 33 carried by the bars to of the uprighting cradle H. The upper ends of said legs or arms ll are provided with pads 44 which in the raised position of the cradle ll are engageable with stops G in the form of bolts adjustably mounted in lugs 66 secured to the framework 5 of the machine.

With the above construction when the uprighting cradle H is in its lowered position, the can placer member i9 is also in a lowered position and extending substantially lengthwise of the bars 30 and below the can C which has been placed in the uprighting cradle I? by the laydown cradle 56 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. Thereafter, as the uprighting cradle l1 moves to the upright position shown in Fig. 2, the member 38 is carried with it until the pads M strike the stops @5, and then as the cradle I? completes its upward movement, the placer member 19 swings about stops 4-5 as a fulcrum, so that the transverse portion 49 swings forwardly toward the left as viewed in Fig. 2 pushing the can forwardly on the support I8 to a cover-receiving position, it being noted that said member l9 also prevents the can from accidentally passing back down with the cradle H in the event that said can did not go onto the table far enough, which may occur in the case of a ragged. can.

, The extra push of the can onto the table by the placer member engaging with the bottom portion of the can results in all cans being pushed into practically the same position regardless of the can diameter, so as to be better placed to receive It is of particular advantage in connection with cans of small diameter, such as 5-gallon cans. v

It is to be noted that the cradles l6 and I! are separate and distinct so that they may be independently operated and timed and that in the above construction both cradles move downwardly to the position shown in Fig. l at the same time, so that the transfer of the weight of the can from the cradle it to the cradle l'l actually occurs near the end of their downward movement and before the cradle I6 reaches its lowest position, and thus the can is gently lowered from its inverted upright position onto the cradle I? by which it is uprighted, and thus banging of the cans and injury thereto is prevented.

I desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to any particular form or arrangement of parts except in so far as such limitations are included in the claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a can turning mechanism, the combination with a support, of a movable cradle for receiving a can and upon which said can is free to slide lengthwise and movable to bring said can into engagement with said support and upright it thereon, a can placement member pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said cradle, a fixed stop, said member engageable at its upper end with said fixed stop as said cradle moves to can uprighting position whereby the lower end of said member moves forwardly, to push the can along said support after its deposit thereon by said cradle. I

2. In a can turning mechanism, the combination with a support, of a cradle pivotally mounted at one end for receiving a can and upon which said can is free to slide lengthwise and movable to bring said can into engagement with said support and upright it thereon, a can placement member pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said cradle, and a fixed stop engageable with an upper end of said member as said cradle swings to can-uprighting position whereby the lower end of said member swings forwardly to engage the lower portion of said can to push the same along said support after its deposit thereon by said cradle.

3. In a can turning mechanism, the combination with a support, of a cradle pivotally mounted at one end for receiving a can and upon which said can is free to slide lengthwise and movable to bring said can into engagement with said support and upright it thereon, a can placement member pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said cradle, a fixed stop engageable with an upper end of said member as said cradle swings to can-uprighting position whereby the lower end of said member swings forwardly to engage the lower portion of said can to push the same along said support after its deposit thereon by said cradle, and means connected to said cradle for advancing a previously uprighted can along said support as said cradle moves to uprighting position.

4. In a can turning mechanism, the combination with a support, a cradle pivotally mounted at one end for receiving a can and upon which said can is free to slide lengthwise and movable to bring said can into engagement with said support and upright it thereon, a can placement member pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said cradle, a fixed stop enga'geable with an upper end of said member as said cradle swings to can-uprighting position whereby to engage the can placement member with the lower portion of said can to push the same along said support after its deposit thereon by said cradle, one-way operating feed pawls slidably mounted on said support, and links operatively connecting said pawls with said cradle for advancing a previously uprighted can along said support as said cradle moves to uprighting position.

5. In a can handling mechanism, the combination with a support having an exposed corner, of a movable cradle for receiving a can and upon which said can is free to slide lengthwise when in an upright position, said cradle adapted to lift the can from a lay down position to an upright position While the bottom of the can is moved into engagement with and swings about said corner to an upright position upon said support, and means for preventing retrograde movement of said can with said cradle comprising a movable can placement member carried by said cradle which, after the can is uprighted on said support by said cradle and is resting onsaid support, imparts a forward push of said can along said support, and means for actuating said can placement member as the cradle assumes its final Vertical position.

NORMAN J. PETERS. 

